A fine year

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It is the afternoon after the night before, and Michael Dhillon
is feeling OK except for a "fuzzy head", the result of a few
bottles of celebratory champagne.

Nominated by Gourmet Traveller Wine magazine for its winemaker
of the year title, Michael missed the final pick graciously,
accepting that the winner, Pete Bissell of Balnaves of Coonawarra -
the generous provider of the champagne headache - was the right
choice given his "extraordinary body of work".

Anyone who knows Michael knows he's not just being polite, he
means it.

He openly talks about his wine heroes, the Rick Kinzbrunners,
Philip Joneses and Keith Mugfords of this world, the kind of makers
who have inspired him with their wines and their winemaking
attitude, which cross between passion and anal retentiveness.

No, being nominated for the annual award seems to be a reward in
itself, acknowledgement of a damn good year for Michael and for
Bindi Wine Growers, the Gisborne vineyard established by his
father, Bill,in 1988.

It's been a year in which his Original Vineyard pinot noir has
been acknowledged in the new Langton's Classification of Australian
Wine, a list released every five years of wines in demand at
Langton's wine auction house.

Questions were asked of Bindi's premium Block 5 pinot and why it
didn't rate a mention in the list. The reason is simple. To be
eligible for the classification a wine must have at least 10
vintages made or released, and Block 5 has been made for only
eight. But by the time the next classification is released in five
years, I can see no reason why Block 5 won't be making its
debut.

This year has also seen the first serious quantities of wines
from the new Block K vineyard planted in 2001. Up to 85 per cent of
fruit from these young vines (along with 15 per cent of
declassified fruit from the Original Vineyard) goes to a new, third
tier of Bindi pinot noir, a delicious drink-now style called
Composition pinot noir.

The name doesn't do the wine justice, but then Bindi has never
been a trendsetter in labelling or naming. In fact, this year also
sees what for Bindi is a dramatic change of label. Out goes the
prominent placing of Kostas Rind, friend and mentor to Bill Dhillon
and to whom Bill has dedicated every vintage. Kostas will remain,
albeit as a faint figure, on the new labels.

It's a good move, with even Michael acknowledging that it was
needed now that Bindi has a growing national and international
presence.

Capping off this "remarkable" year, Michael recently held a
tasting of every vintage produced of pinot noir and chardonnay and
threw in the odd taste of Bindi sparkling and Bundaleer Heathcote
shiraz.

The Dhillons may have chosen their Gisborne farm for planting
vines but the site heavily influenced what followed. The cool
climate made it clear that chardonnay and pinot noir were about the
only vines to ripen well there and so they were planted. The
"shattered" quartz running through the land with a top layer of
volcanic soil puts a strong imprint on all Bindi wines, making them
some of the most instantly recognisable with their super-fragrant
perfume, pure fruit core and clean minerality.

The new Composition pinot from the 2005 vintage ($35) is still
in barrel, and although the same price as some other producers' top
pinots, it is the cheapest of Bindi pinots. The fruit is stewed
plums, sweet and strong, firm in the middle and soft and lasting at
the end with negligible oak impact. Don't age this wine when it is
finally released, just drink.

One day, sometime in the future, Michael expects Block K to
produce some of Bindi's best fruit and become a single vineyard
wine.

Meanwhile, there is the wine that started all the fuss about
Bindi, the Original Vineyard pinot ($55), and the wine that
cemented the reputation, the Block 5 pinot ($75). With 14 and eight
vintages behind them, the vines and the individual styles behind
the two wines are now firmly established.

The Original Vineyard has always been gentle in perfume,
generous in fruit, wearing each vintage variation on its sleeve.
The warmth of the 2000 vintage clearly shows through in reserved
power, the 2001 with a warm richness while 1999 is angular and
unusually heavy on charry oak.

Block 5 has always appeared more assured by comparison, more
textural, more complex and far tighter and firmer in body, one of
the few Australian pinots you might consider ageing if you are
game.

Certainly you could be forgiven for assuming that wines such as
the 1997 and 1998 Block 5 are younger than they seem. Fresh and
highly focused, these wines, along with the 2002 and 2004 (which
will be bottled this month), substantiate Michael Dhillon's
long-held theory that his better pinots need five years to flesh
out before they drink superbly at 10.

His statement comes with a caveat. Not every year is a winner in
cool-climate viticulture and not every year will benefit from such
prolonged ageing.

Consistency, says Michael, is probably his biggest challenge. He
believes his site has an advantage in achieving a fair degree of
ripeness, year in, year out. However, the real insurance policy, he
says, is keeping the crop load well down so he's not asking too
much of his vines towards the end of the season.

Leaving a big crop on the vines (the Dhillons consider five
tonnes to the hectare high) makes it hard for full ripening unless
you happen to stumble upon a year like 2000.

That year, the yields were high and the fruit quality
"outstanding". Michael regards the vintage as a real turning point
for Bindi chardonnay. It proved to be the first of a five-year run
of excellent vintages for the grape, producing consistently
"intense, vibrant, cellar-worthy chardonnays".

He believes the 2000 Quartz chardonnay, a single-vineyard wine
($60) is only now beginning to drink superbly. The 2001 vintage
produced a savoury, complex style; 2002 was "intense and powerful";
and the Quartz chardonnay was the "standout wine" of 2003.

Both 2004 and 2005 revealed high natural acidity and minerality
that should have them looking good for those who like to gamble and
age Australian chardonnay.

Me, I'll take the 2001 and 2002 Quartz chardonnay now, and I
know I'll enjoy them. But if I was the gambling type, I might just
be persuaded . . .